Ronny Loew

Born St. Paul, Minn. 1970, began playing clarinet at 10, tenor sax at 11, baritone sax at 13 and now is proficient on all of them plus the hard-to-keep-in-tune soprano. Eventually Loew went off to the Berklee College of Music in Boston and earned a degree in Performance Studies. Searching for his individual musical voice, he realized that even though most of his contemporaries who played saxophone idolized Coltrane, Cannonball and Bird, Loew---though certainly appreciative of their achievements---was drawn to the soul-funk end of the jazz sax spectrum, closer to the Parker named Maceo along with Grover Washington, David Sanborn, Kenny Garrett, Michael Brecker and bassist/arranger Marcus Miller.

After eight years in Boston, Loew returned to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul in 1997. Having impressed many influential musicians and others in the music business while in Boston, Loew began getting calls to do saxophone and percussion work for soul and funk-jazz artists all over the U.S. and, indeed, all over the world. His suitcase and instrument case carry stickers from Austria, China, England, Greece, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Switzerland.

Meanwhile, Loew was steadily building a fan base in his home town. His computerized list (ronnyloew@earthlink.net) now numbers over 1,000, many of them Twin Cities residents who have packed local jazz clubs such as the Artists' Quarter, Dakota Bar & Grill and The Luxx to hear Loew and his band. "People I had told about the band said they didn't quite get it until they heard it," Loew says. "Then, they get hooked and can't wait to see us again. I hope this CD helps hook other people, too."

Today, Loew's game plan is to keep doing those national and international gigs but devoting the major portion of his time and energies to making an ever-growing name for himself playing his own music. "As I focus on my own music, I hope eventually to reach the point where I am playing with my band on a national or international level," Loew says. -Loew's bandmates here include some Minnesota natives and some "immigrants."